Apparently You Can Use Pancake Mix to Make Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Pancake mixes can be a handy grocery find. Did you know you can make not just pancakes but waffles with it, too? You can even hack the mix to make mini doughnuts, and even use it as a replacement for flour when making cookies! 

Betty Crocker has a recipe that uses its pancake mix to make chocolate chip cookies. Yummy.ph tried this recipe out and tweaked it so it would work better using the local pancake mixes available. Plus, this only takes an hour to make! This yields 18 cookies, which means you can share your creations with the fam (or keep them all to yourself, it'll be our little secret).

Check out this pancake mix chocolate chip cookies recipe: 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed  
• 1 medium egg 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 250-gram pack (2 1/4 cups) pancake mix 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chilled  
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper if desired. Set aside.  
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, around 3 minutes (or just mix using a spatula). Add and beat in the egg and then the vanilla until well mixed.
3. Add pancake mix, salt, chocolate chips, and chopped nuts (if using) to the batter. Fold the ingredients into the mixture until just combined.
4. Using a scoop, form cookie dough balls and place at least 4 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are just firm and the edges are crisp.
5. Remove from the oven, and let cool at least 3 minutes to firm up the cookie before removing and placing on a cooling rack to completely cool. Serve with cold, fresh milk or a hot beverage of your choice.   

Tips and tricks to make these cookies and the explanation behind the changes to the original recipe:

The original recipe called for 1 cup brown sugar, which was a bit too sweet, even when loosely packed. Yummy.ph scaled it down to 3/4 cup to as little as 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar. They also added salt to offset the overall sweetness of the cookie dough.

Let the cookie dough "rest" at least 5 minutes before scooping into dough into balls to allow the ingredients to full meld together and firm up.

These spread out considerably, even when the cookie dough is chilled before baking. Give them plenty of space on the cookie sheet for best results.

Do not underbake or overbake. Underbaking leaves the cookies still wet in the center and so soft it won't hold its shape very well, even after cooling. These are best baked at around 12 to 15 minutes. 

You must allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet, at least 2 to 3 minutes, just until the cookies are warm, not hot. These are still very soft despite appearances. Cooling also forces the cookies to firm up and separate more easily from the pan. If desired, place parchment paper on the baking sheet before adding the cookie dough balls for easier release.  

The original recipe says to cream the butter and sugar together "until light and fluffy" which could take around 3 to 5 minutes with an electric mixer. This is a must for this chocolate chip cookie recipe.

No matter how much you may want to cream your butter and sugar together, our tropical weather will melt the butter. The trick here is to keep that butter from melting by using not-too-softened butter and using an egg straight from the refrigerator. You can also place your mixture back in the refrigerator until the butter has firmed up before proceeding.

Even if you skip this first step and just mix the soft butter and sugar and proceed as the recipe instructs, you will still get a pretty good homemade cookie that's both crispy and chewy. 

This story originally appeared on Yummy.ph. Minor edits have been made by the editors.